or


[01/08/12 - 08:05 AM]
Lions-Saints NFL Wild Card Primetime Game on NBC Draws 19.3 Overnight Rating
NBC spins the numbers for Saturday, January 7.
[via press release from NBC]

LIONS-SAINTS NFL WILD CARD PRIMETIME GAME ON NBC DRAWS 19.3 OVERNIGHT RATING

Lions-Saints is Third-Best Wild Card Saturday Overnight in 12 Years; Trailing Only Previous Two Years on NBC

Two-Game Wild Card Average of 17.2/30 is Third-Best Wild Card Saturday Average Since 1999

NBC Dominated Primetime

New Orleans Leads All Markets with 58.2/76; Detroit Draws 41.1/61

Cincinnati Leads Metered Markets in Game 1 with 39.7/62; Houston Draws 34.9/59

NEW YORK - January 8, 2012 - NBC's coverage of last night's New Orleans Saints 45-28 victory over the Detroit Lions earned a 19.3 overnight rating and a 32 share, the third-best overnight for a Wild Card Saturday game since the 1999 playoff season, according to overnight data released today by The Nielsen Company. NBC's two-game Wild Card Saturday average of 17.2/30 is also the third-best since the 1999 playoff season.

The 19.3 for last night's primetime game is down from last year's game in which the Jets defeated the Colts 17-16. That game earned a 20.8/33, the highest-rated Saturday Wild Card primetime overnight ever. This marked the third straight year that the NBC primetime Wild Card game surpassed a 19.0 overnight rating.

The early game, in which the Houston Texans defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 31-10 to earn the first playoff victory in the franchise's history, drew a 15.3 overnight rating and a 29 share. That is down from last year's New Orleans Saints-Seattle Seahawks game (18.3/33) which was the best Saturday Wild Card Game 1 in 20 years.

The two-game average of 17.2/30 is down from last year's two-game average of 19.4/33, the best average for two Saturday Wild Card games since the 1994 season

NBC DOMINATED PRIMETIME: During primetime (8-11 p.m.), NBC averaged a 19.2/33 dominating its competition, delivering more than five times the primetime average of the night's No. 2 broadcast network (ABC, 3.7/6), topping the combined averages of ABC (3.7/6), CBS (2.7/5) and Fox (1.6/3) by 140 percent.

TOP 10 MARKETS FOR LIONS-SAINTS:
1. New Orleans, 58.2/76
2. Detroit, 41.1/61
3. Milwaukee, 29.5/45
4. Las Vegas, 25.9/40
5. Baltimore, 25.2/38
6. Atlanta, 24.8/37
7. San Diego, 24.2/40
8. Norfolk, 23.7/33
9. Houston, 23.4/39
10. Nashville, 22.8/33

TOP 10 MARKETS FOR BENGALS-TEXANS
1. Cincinnati, 39.7/62
2. Houston, 34.9/59
3. New Orleans, 24.8/37
4. Dayton, 24.5/39
5. Baltimore, 23.5/39
6. Milwaukee, 21.0/38
7. Las Vegas, 19.0/34
8. Norfolk, 18.8/31
9. Pittsburgh, 18.4/34
10. Washington, D.C., 17.7/34





  [january 2012]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S


· SHOWATCH
(series past and present)
· DEVWATCH
(series in development)
· MOVIEWATCH
(tv movies and mini-series)




most recent ratings | view all posts
[12/05/25 - 03:31 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers
"Nightline" improved on the previous week in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, hitting nine-week highs in both measures.
[12/05/25 - 02:05 PM]
ESPN Networks Deliver Best College Football Regular Season Since 2011; "College GameDay Built by The Home Depot" Scores Most-Watched Season Ever
ESPN networks aired the most-watched game in 34 of 42 key Saturday windows, including seven of 14 noon windows, 13 of 14 late afternoon windows and all 14 prime windows.
[12/05/25 - 12:35 PM]
2025 CFB Viewership Surges on FOX & FS1
The 2025 regular season wrapped with big numbers for "Big Noon Saturday," "Big Noon Kickoff" and more - including year-over-year gains across the board.
[12/05/25 - 11:00 AM]
CBS Premiere Week Episodes Post Gains and Lead In Live Plus 35-Day Multiplatform Viewership
"Tracker" delivered 17.3 million viewers, up +6% versus its year-ago premiere.
[12/05/25 - 08:45 AM]
ESPN Delivered Most-Watched Women's College Volleyball Season on Record
Said coverage averaged 190,000 viewers, up 36% from the 2024 season.
[12/04/25 - 04:19 PM]
"College GameDay Built By The Home Depot" Delivers Second-Best Regular Season Episode Ever; ESPN Scores Best Rivalry Week Since 2012
The Lone Star Showdown drew over 13 million viewers, peaking with 14.3 million viewers.
[12/04/25 - 03:45 PM]
"Big Noon Kickoff" Scores 4.36 Million Viewers on FOX
The 2025 season was "Big Noon Kickoff's" most-watched season in history.
[12/04/25 - 02:41 PM]
18.4M Viewers Tuned in for Ohio State-Michigan on FOX
Ohio State's win over Michigan scored 18,424,000 viewers on FOX.
[12/04/25 - 02:28 PM]
Record Audience Watches Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix on ESPN2
The November 30 telecast earned an average audience of 1.4 million viewers, the largest audience ever to watch the event on U.S. television.
[12/03/25 - 11:59 AM]
"9-1-1: Nashville" Season Premiere Catapults to Over 19 Million Total Viewers
Over 35 days, ABC's Thursday night drama premieres amassed impressive audiences based on competitive cross-platform broadcast series rankings, with all three dramas landing in the Top 10 among Adults 18-49.
[12/03/25 - 08:57 AM]
Record NFL Viewership Caps Thanksgiving Night on NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo
Bengals-Ravens is the most-watched Thanksgiving night NFL game ever with an average of 28.4 million viewers.
[12/03/25 - 08:55 AM]
"NFL on CBS" Shatters Record for Most-Watched Regular-Season Game in NFL History with More Than 57 Million Viewers
Viewership peaked with 61.357 million viewers for the game's thrilling conclusion (7:45-8:00 PM ET).
[12/03/25 - 08:49 AM]
FOX Sports Feasts on Thanksgiving Day with 47.7 Million Viewers for Packers-Lions
Viewership peaked with 57,957,000 viewers from 4:00-4:15 PM ET.
[12/03/25 - 08:47 AM]
Most-Watched NBA on ESPN Thanksgiving Eve in Six Years
The inaugural tripleheader averaged 2,099,000 viewers, up 54 percent from last year's Thanksgiving Eve doubleheader, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel.
[12/02/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of November 24 - "Stranger Things" Escapes the Upside Down to Take No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
The series returned last week with Volume 1 of its fifth and final season, touting the biggest premiere week ever for an English language show in the history of Netflix, amassing 59.6 million views and securing No. 1 on the English TV list.